Medical assistance in dying (MAID), or euthanasia, has sparked debate in recent years. This is the action of ending a terminally ill patient’s life with the help of a physician. Many people argue that this is a way of ending suffering and being compassionate to those who are in pain. Others say that the idea of “assisted suicide” is morally wrong and unethical. In some places around the world, MAID is legal. Should MAID be legal in America?
One place where MAID is legal is up north in Canada. In Canada, medically assisted death was written into federal legislation in 2016, with rigorous criteria in place to determine who is eligible to receive this treatment. Part of this legislation determines if a patient is mentally stable enough to understand what they are requesting. MAID is also legal in nine other countries around the world: Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Colombia, Australia, and New Zealand. While all of these countries slightly differ in the criteria required for patients to qualify for assisted death, they all share two main points. Firstly, two independent physicians must review the patient’s case and approve of the decision being made. Secondly, there is a period of wait time after a patient has been determined eligible, to solidify that dying is something the patient would like to go forward with.
Within the United States, nine states; California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia, have created legislation allowing MAID if a patient is terminally ill. However that is only a fraction of the country, and for many, access to these places is not easy. A study published in 2019 investigated patterns of MAID in Oregon and Washington. This study reported that over fifty percent of MAID patients were male and ninety-four percent of patients were non-Hispanic whites. Clearly, this is not fair as many others in the population who suffer from a terminal illness and would like to seek MAID are not able to travel either domestically or internationally.
With strict guidelines, why isn’t MAID legal in the entire United States? There are two major points of view. On the one hand, MAID is considered to be a compassionate way to end suffering for people with a terminal illness and is clearly represented in data. In Canada in 2021, the average age of MAID patients was 76.3, and 65 percent of these patients had terminal cancer. Cancer treatment is aggressive. Many cancer patients don’t want to receive this harsh and often expensive treatment, especially with no promise that their cancer will respond. MAID gives patients autonomy and control over their lives, letting them choose if they want to end their suffering.
On the other hand, many people argue that MAID is barbaric and an extreme way to show autonomy over one’s life. In an article from An American Society of Clinical Oncology Journal it is argued that instead of MAID, patients can choose to just decline the painful treatment, and eventually die. However, this argument ignores the fact that many people who seek out MAID are already suffering from painful illnesses, such as cancer. Some physicians also oppose MAID because it goes against everything they’ve ever been taught. As a doctor you want to fix people; fix patients’ injuries, and cure their diseases. Letting patients die goes completely against these principles. The American Medical Association has even opposed MAID. Some disability advocates also oppose MAID, as they worry that if implemented, the power physicians would hold could be abused on disabled patients. This is completely understandable, as disabled people are marginalized and have been historically treated terribly by society. However, studies have shown that places that have legalized MAID have not seen issues with physicians abusing their power.
MAID is a right that aligns with the idea that you have autonomy over your body and should be made accessible to people everywhere. In the coming months, it seems that more US states will begin legalizing MAID and hopefully soon, all fifty states will have legalized MAID. MAID is also being further developed internationally. Canada is trying to expand who is qualified to receive MAID and is considering including people who struggle with mental illness. It will be interesting to see how the next year MAID spreads around the world, and how it is implemented in different countries, including the U.S.